


whoa, what a swim

by mrslee19



Category: iKON (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - The Little Mermaid Fusion, Everyone is a good bro, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Hanbin likes shiny things, Have I mentioned fluff?, Junhoe is a little piece of crap but you'll love him, M/M, and Chanwoo finally has a part in this fanfic lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-06-29 12:44:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19830493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrslee19/pseuds/mrslee19
Summary: In which Jiwon's definitely not a prince, Chanwoo's not an evil witch, Jinhwan's always done with everyone and Hanbin likes shiny things and socks. Aka, the Little Mermaid AU with too many twists that absolutely no one asked for.(Oh, Donghyuk and Yunhyeong are the best friends anyone can ask for and Junhoe—Junhoe is a dipshit).





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As usual, mistakes here and there. They will be corrected once we come back from our trip. (My betas and I are in German now woohoooo!) I was f o r c e d to start writing a DoubleB because a) my other friend is a big shipper and b) I had made Jiwon suffer enough in my fanfics. No there won't be any JunBin in this fanfic. Like, zero, niente, nada.

**0.**

If it wasn’t for the scaly tail the guy had—huh, mermaid? Mer _man_? Maybe, mer _boy_ since he looked young. Anyways, if it weren’t for the typical fish part of him, Jiwon would have never had thought that he was in the presence of a mythical being.

For all he knew these creatures were supposed to be, on top of very seductive, great singers that were able to hypnotize with their alluring voices.

There was nothing enchanting about this guy’s singing. It was actually like listening to a cat yowling, if not worse. He was as deaf tone as they came. (Or, maybe, humans had been wrong all along and these hybrids’ tactic had always been getting people’s ships crushed against shores by distracting them with their awful songs).

Jiwon hadn’t meant to disturb the merboy’s—let’s call him that—rehearsal. The _noises_ came all of a sudden, startling him. Because of that his foot slipped and if it was not that he caught himself, he would have fallen and hit his head against a rock. Huh. What if that was the other’s intention?

He looked over, gaze traveling from the caudal fin to the guy’s upper body until Jiwon’s meeting a pair of big eyes adorned with full thick eyelashes. It turned out the lack of beauty in his voice’s more than compensated by his face.

Merboy did not have anything screaming I-want-you-dead about him, what with him gaping his mouth slightly and his still shocked expression.

So, Jiwon pulled himself up and waved a hand. “Hi?” He tried.

The merboy gasped. He looked even more aghast for a full minute before his look morphed into something resembling remote curiosity. “Lander, you can talk?” He asked, tilting his head forward and then retreating a second later as an afterthought.

 _Lander?_ Jiwon’s attention got momentarily taken by the fish tail that was now flickering lightly left and right. He snapped out of his reverie when the other placed a hand on it, and he found merboy back to looking scared. All the staring could have made him uncomfortable.

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly, “it’s just very eye-catching.” Like, you’re half a fish. He didn’t say that, though. “I’m Jiwon.” He wondered what kind of custom these folks had when they met someone new. If they slapped their tails against each other or something, in place of a handshake.

There’s a lot of hesitation and a couple of tail tapping on the rock the merboy had been sitting on before a shy reply came. “My name is Hanbin.”

That’s awfully Korean. Jiwon couldn’t help, but smile, though. It made sense. A little. Like, they’re in Korea and this merboy had probably lived here for—well, he got to ask. “How old are you?”

Jiwon’s question got answered first by the cutest tip of head ever and second by a sweet, “old?”

“I mean, how long have you been alive?”

Merboy— _Hanbin_ bent his tail so that it fit on the top of the rock completely. He held it. “For 200 years?”

“Oh,” Jiwon immediately reacted. He grinned. “ _Dang_. And here I thought _I_ was old. I’m twenty-three, by the way. Which probably makes me a baby in your eyes.”

In your _wonderful_ eyes.

Hanbin looked thoughtful. “My friend said that in human years he’s around twenty-five years and I am around twenty-two.”

“Oh?” Jiwon said. A smirk was making its way on his lips, but he quickly wiped it off because there’s just no way he’ll hit on a merboy—mer _man_.

There’s a possibility he might be hallucinating right now. After all, the day had been incredibly hot and the heat had reached its peak one hour ago and it’s probably going to last for at least another four hours.

Just some time ago he had told Yunhyeong and Donghyuk that he would go sunbathe on the rocks, take a dip if he got burnt.

Now that he’s thinking about this, they had been in this beach several times before. There were no anomalies whatsoever.

The chances that Jiwon had fallen asleep and he’s getting cooked under the sun while he’s dreaming about an encounter with a merman seemed high.

The water beads on Hanbin’s porcelain skin were glistening, though. Those on his tail were the same, maybe iridescent, colorful because of the scales. So what if it’s not real? Jiwon’s probably going to wake up and not be able to move a single muscle for how burnt he was.

Might as well enjoy this dream as much as he could.

That immediately canceled his previous no flirting with the gorgeous mythical creature before him.

“Are all mermen as good looking as you are?” Jiwon asked.

Hanbin frowned. “I’m not considered _good_ looking among my brothers.” He said simply. His eyelashes fluttered innocently and Jiwon’s pulse spiked. He’s always had a thing for pure—okay, this he was _not_ doing. “I’m _medium_ looking, I think.”

Jiwon had to chuckle at that. “ _Medium_? Seriously?” These mer-creatures had to be either extremely beautiful or handsome, or they had a fucked up system for rating someone of their species’ appearance because in their human world Hanbin could not be other than _hot_.

Hanbin nodded at him _solemnly_ with his eyebrows still set on this scowl. “Yes, very seriously.” He’s freaking adorable.

Jiwon was perhaps back to staring too intensely—every time the tail moved, he just could not help looking at it. It’s fascinating. His palm was itching so badly, wanting to touch it—that the other shifted on his spot and tried to hide his lower body uselessly with his arms.

It made him feel like a jerk, so he offered an apologetic smile.

“My brother Jinhwan always says that humans are monsters.” Hanbin told him, timidly, but with a glint in his eyes. “Hideous like hydras.”

Jiwon had a vague idea of what those are. “I’m ugly, but not that much,” he joked.

At that Hanbin not very subtly checked him out.

Jiwon broadened his shoulders, took a better stance. Body-wise, he’s confident. He waited for a comment.

“No, you’re not ugly.” Not exactly what he would have liked to hear, but okay. Hanbin held his stare. “You look soft.” Excuse me? “Squishy. Like, a jellyfish.” He finished with a toothy smile, looking far too happy.

Remember the white guy blinking meme in disbelief that became popular and was the best meme of 2017? Picture Jiwon emulating him.

Months and months of training only to have a merboy call him _squishy_. _Like a jellyfish_. If it was not for the other’s joyful expression, Jiwon would have felt insulted.

Instead, he laughed.

And to his biggest surprise, he heard Hanbin join him too. It’s nice. It totally fit him. Small and cute just like him. Jiwon’s charmed by it.

He’s wondering if he were to cross a line if he compared Hanbin’s horrible singing skills to the nice melody that he's producing while laughing, but they’re interrupted by a skate emerging from the water.

Hanbin saw it and he paled. “Oh, no.” He’s saying before he’s pushing himself effortlessly in the sea. He and the skate were gone in an instant, only leaving bubbles on the surface.

Jiwon’s left dumbfounded trying to look for them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mistakes here and there. Viva Starbucks and get prepared for Junhoe lol

Yunhyeong raised a single eyebrow at him. He gave him a pointed look. “There are almost 40 degrees.”

Jiwon waited for the waitress to scribble down his order in her notebook. He smiled at her politely, even if she could not see her. When she was out of ears, he finally responded. “I cannot eat fish after what happened.” It would be extremely fucked up.

Donghyuk jerked his head away from the list of the desserts on the menu to watch him. He eyed him for a while. “What’s the mermaid’s name again?”

“Mer _man_ ,” Jiwon muttered quickly, “Hanbin.”

“And he’s got Asian features,” Donghyuk said. He put the menu down and crossed his arms on the table. “I’ve been thinking about it, but why exactly would he look Asian?”

Jiwon’s about to give him the most logical answer he could come up with, but did not have the opportunity to as the other kept talking.

“Because he’s here in South Korean waters?” Donghyuk wondered.

Jiwon let out a, “that’s what I think?” How would he know?

Donghyuk seemed to ponder about it. “So, it depends on where they swim? If we go to Canada, we’ll find Canadian looking mermaids?”

“What are Canadian mermaids supposed to look like?” Yunhyeong questioned, making a face.

The restaurant provided them side dishes— _him_. Because those were definitely for him to add to his ramen later. Jiwon put the small plates next to each other in front of him.

Donghyuk simply shrugged in lieu of a response. He put his elbows on the table and cupped his face on the palms of his hands. “But you’re sure you’ve seen him, hyung?”

Jiwon took a slice of the sauteed mushroom. Oh, delicious. “Yeah,” he said afterwards, “I told you he was on the rock you found me sitting on. He was singing—” Rather badly. “—there when we met. Then, this fish, this skate—”

“Ah, they sell them down the street. Let’s have some after lunch,” Donghyuk chirped in enthusiastically, but relented when Jiwon frowned at him.

“—came up from the sea and Hanbin just dived and he went away.” He paused. Not done with Donghyuk for his previous comment, he turned to him. “The hell, Dongie?”

“Hey, we’d been looking for the mermaid for two hours, it’s summer and we’re near the beach!” Donghyuk explained his craving. He tapped the tip of his forefinger on the wooden surface as he continued, “we’re Orientals, hyung, it’s common knowledge that we eat lots of seafood. We live eating seafood. You do not get to call yourself Asian if you don’t eat seafood. It’s a miracle we do not pop gills for how much seafood we eat.”

Jiwon chose not to engage any further in that conversation.

He’s thankful for Donghyuk for indulging him before. It could have been because his friend had always had a thing for the unusual, for the supernatural, but it was comforting knowing that someone believed in him and was even more engaged in the searching than he was. He could hold that against him, tell Donghyuk that he wanted to find Hanbin too, but no. Just no.

Donghyuk’s eagerness was definitely way better than Yunhyeong doubting him every other second and wanting to call it off, but never did and proceeded to follow them anywhere while huffing and complaining. Why didn’t he just go back to their vacation house’s something Jiwon had asked himself.

After fruitlessly looking for Hanbin and not finding the slightest proof of his existence—not a shadow of him nor of his tail nor his gray skater fellow—Donghyuk had declared to be starving and craving for some _sushi_. What the hell.

The thought was disturbing, but Jiwon caved in when they told him that the Japanese place offered other dishes besides marine creatures.

Plus, it’s not like he could start a war against his friends when he was happily inhaling raw fish too just a week ago. Was it drastic for him to be refusing said food because he had an encounter with a mystical creature like Hanbin?

Like, the odds that it really did happen weren’t in his favors.

As he had previously noted, the temperature had been sizzling and Jiwon would be lying if he said he didn’t even get a mild headache.

While the rational part of his brain had been trying to persuade him that Hanbin could have been nothing but a vision, a figment of his imagination—that he was just daydreaming—the hopeful part of him had planted its feet to the ground and was refusing to believe it hadn’t been real.

Because, how could his mind be playing tricks to him?

The images of Hanbin’s scales glimmering as they got hit by the rays of the sun were vivid in his eyes. Jiwon could still see the way Hanbin had been moving his tail like Jiwon’s cat could with its own.

The waitress came back with his noodles served in a broth that looked like it’s made of meat and vegetables. Well, he could deal with meat.

It only hit him that he was hungry when he had a spoon of the dish and then he was eating with gusto, even if Yunhyeong started talking about the blister he thought was forming on his heel.

Jiwon did not let it get to him when Donghyuk and Yunhyeong’s orders came. He felt his stomach flip at the sashimi, but decided to just divert his gaze elsewhere.

It really did not help that Yunhyeong asked for seconds instead of just switching to a good ice cream.

—

Whether meeting Hanbin had happened in reality or not, it surely changed his diet. A little. Like, after two days he starting having crabs and shrimps and clams. Yunhyeong had helpfully pulled on a page about mermaids and it said that they fed on various plants, some animals, crustaceans and even some fish. (He doubted that last, though. That had to be false).

Jiwon couldn’t put himself to, though.

While it did not make him want to vomit, the idea of having fish seemed— _wrong_ , somehow. Hanbin had such a nice little smile and he had such a cute little laugh and he and his tail were beautiful. Jiwon would just lose his appetite if they put a plate of fish under his nose.

He had heard about people thinking that they met aliens or something out of this world thus developing an obsession. His was not the case.

Although, he went looking for the merman the very next day after their face to tail, he let himself be coaxed into giving up by Yunhyeong when he came back once again with nothing.

Yes, okay, there was not a single day over the next half of the week when he did not think about Hanbin when he looked at the sea, and he would picture the innocence in Hanbin’s expressions and thickness of his eyelashes at night during parties when he would go try his luck with someone.

Jiwon did not let Hanbin affect him. _Much_.

He went on with his life.

At least that’s what he thought.

—

They had decided to stay inside that day because they were informed by the locals that a storm was coming and they knew how bad it could get here.

For the occasion, they had bought booze and chips and Donghyuk had insisted they watched a horror movie to go along with the weather. Jiwon and Yunhyeong obliged knowing well that the other was going to either fall asleep ten minutes into it, or scream fifteen minutes after it.

Fortunately Donghyuk was snoring and Yunhyeong, because he gulped down too much alcohol without even having dinner, passed out not long after.

Jiwon’s in the bathroom, doing his business. He only got half a beer because he was not really in the mood of getting drunk since he already had fun the day before. He was done, and casually looked outside.

Rain’s pattering on the window, hitting against it with violence. Thunders kept roaring in the dark sky illuminated only by lightnings. He could hear the wind blowing harshly, making angry waves rise to collide down and eat more and more of the land.

Jiwon was thinking, “aw, shit,” and trying to remember at what hour the meteorologist had predicted for the storm to start subsiding when he noticed the window stop clattering.

Suddenly the sky was not full of thunderheads anymore, but instead was clear with a star or two starting to be seen. That calmness reflected on the waters too. The sea was fucking flat.

Look, it’s probably not the first time a thunderstorm just stopped. It’s not an abnormal phenomenon. Many could testify that they had seen it happen, but Jiwon got this gut feeling that he needed to start running and check the shore.

His instincts had never failed him and the beach was just right there. It could take him less than three minutes if he went as fast as he could.

And so that’s what he did.

It’s when he’s on wet sand, out of his breathe, that he recalled that they had bikes in the basement that he could have took out.

Jiwon looked around him. There was nobody. Not a single soul. No one standing on the ground like he was, nothing looked like it was swimming on the sea either. He circled the perimeter, went to the rocks for the third time, expecting to find Hanbin there.

Something inside of him told him he was being delusional—that he indeed had started being tortured by his own imagination. Or, if it was true, that the legends Yunhyeong had read him about were true: once you meet a mer-creature you’ll forever be driven by the desire to see them again.

It’s none of fucking those, though.

Jiwon was trying to be as cautious as possible. The rain had made the rocks even more slippery that they already were. If he did not go slowly, he would seriously harm himself. His head would crack like a watermelon.

He heard before his eyes could see and Hanbin’s beautiful talking voice sent a flurry of butterflies in his belly.

“You will make brother furious.”

Jiwon could discern a second voice, equally melodious, but more husky with a dark undertone reply,

“brother doesn’t scare me!”

Careful. You do not want to kill yourself now. When Jiwon turned, the spot was empty. Hanbin was not sitting there and he had to whip his head right and left to look for where those two voices were coming from. Oh, fuck. He felt cold because he was just in a tee-shirt and his shoes had half the sand of the whole beach in them: this was not another fucking dream.

“Why do you have to misbehave?”

“Mino always exercises his powers!”

“Junhoe, Mino’s ability is to communicate with all kind of species.”

Jiwon tried to look in the sea, but it’s too dark. He palmed his pockets, but got frustrated as he understood that he forgot his phone back home.

“It’s unfair of you to sacrifice my power—”

“We’re not!” There’s a veil of irritation in Hanbin when he interrupted the other—mermaid? No, merman. That’s definitely another male. “But you _can_ use only half of your capacity, Junhoe.”

“But you did not take into consideration the fact that I want to use my capabilities to their maximum!”

“June—”

Jiwon couldn’t help himself, he called, “Hanbin?”

The conversation went dead. It became silent all of a sudden. Jiwon tried to lean near down, making sure to avoid potential danger. He had never dived from here. He doubted the water level was high, but he did not want to find out if that’s the truth or not either. The water must be gelid now.

“Hanbin?” He crouched so this way he was talking nearer to the sea surface. “It’s Jiwon. Huh. Lander Jiwon?” His fingertips touched water. He dipped half his hand in.

When his words got met with silence, he started growing impatient—no, not that. Maybe, anxious. “Hanbin, you’re real, right? I did not imagine you because it was too hot. You really do have a tail—”

Someone snickered.

Jiwon’s ears perked. He decided that it was safe to get on his knees and to scoot closer. He was not going to fall. “We didn’t even get to say goodbye. You just swam away.” He pushed his arm until he got wet to his elbow. What the hell was he doing? It’s not like he could reach Hanbin like this.

It’s when his hope was reaching its peak that a meter or so from him something sneering started coming into view from under the water. It stopped when only hair and eyes were visible.

Creeped out, Jiwon took his arm out and started scrambling backwards, away from the sea. When he could not get further because he had met solid rock behind him, he stared horrified at that half-face.

“Well, well, well.” It sounded scornful and although Jiwon could only look at his eyes, for some reason he could depict him—it was the other mer-creature. This was not Hanbin. Absolutely not—having a derisive smirk. “Have you implied that you and brother met?”

Jiwon could not get himself to answer.

“Answer me, you tiny lander.” The terrifying thing was itching towards him.

Jiwon shuddered. The glare he got sent because of him not giving any response was downright chilling. Well, excuse him for not finding the will to talk.

“You leave me no choice but feed on you, stupid tiny lander.” Jiwon’s told. He kind of resented himself for thinking that if Hanbin were the one to utter those words, he would have more than likely accepted. It would have sounded very sexy coming from Hanbin’s mouth.

What he suspected was another merman started rising completely as he went on with his threats, but by the time the other’s human upper body could be seen, Jiwon found himself gaping first and then frowning later.

“What the fuck, you’re just a kid.” With a fucking deep voice, but still.

He got splashed by water, freezing fucking water, because of that.

“I’m no kid!”

Jiwon was speechless. He bit back his retort which would have been something along the lines of, “you’re a brat, that’s what you are,” because another merman—the one he had been looking for and wishing to see—emerged too in such grace that he was left mesmerized.

Jiwon noticed that the moon was out only when its light fell on Hanbin who looked absolutely breathtaking even if he had what looked like a seaweed caught in his hair.

“Ouch!” The mer _kid_ cried when Hanbin slapped the side of his head.

“Don’t terrorize, Jiwon, Junhoe!”

The mer _kid_ —Junhoe made a petulant sound. “He was being disrespectful, brother!”

That was very inaccurate because Jiwon was a second away from peeing in his pants, but he kept that for himself, opting instead to ogle at the two.

“He was fearing you,” Hanbin argued. Ah, so he knew—Jiwon felt mortified. “You should ask for forgiveness.”

“He’s a lander!” Junhoe protested, his face pinched as if the mere thought of saying he was sorry to a human both hurt and offended him at the same time. He crossed his arms on his chest and circled twice around himself angrily, huffing, which Jiwon believed was comparable to a child stomping its feet.

Hanbin blinked at Junhoe, unimpressed. Then he turned back to Jiwon. “My brother did not mean to—”

“Do not speak for me, brother!” Junhoe roared, the young snappish creature. He slapped his hands against the water. The reproachful look he received for that outburst made him still. He started pushing his lips in a sulk, all while folding his arms back on his chest and wearing the most menacing glare he could muster.

Of course, the glare was aimed at Jiwon.

Hanbin had the face of someone who was going to attempt saying he was sorry for the other’s behalf once again, but he decided against it as he glanced at the pouting Junhoe. What he said in the end was, “I did not think we would meet again.” The small gentle smile on his lips eased Jiwon’s nerves a little.

Contrary to their first meeting, he looked a lot more relaxed. Jiwon did not know if it was because he startled Hanbin the other day, if it’s because marine beings like him were really not supposed to be seen by humans, but since Hanbin already had, he did not mind much anymore, or simply because his tail was hidden from Jiwon’s gaze.

Or, maybe it was because he had a companion this time—his little brother, it seemed.

Jiwon briefly wondered why the merkid’s reaction was so different from Hanbin. If it’s because he’s young and that made him a lot more reckless, a lot more suspicious and a lot more bothersome too.

Pushing those inner questions aside because they did not matter, Jiwon detached his back from the hard rock he was plastered against. “We—” He began, words choked as Hanbin moved his head and the angle made only part of his face illuminated, but Hanbin’s eyes remained brilliant.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Jiwon whispered truthfully, “you’re so fucking beautiful,” and then added as he watched Hanbin’s expression change into something that looked contemplating, “you were nowhere to be found.”

The one to speak up was Junhoe. “You’re such a silly lander,” the merkid said, eyeballing him as if Jiwon was, indeed, stupid. He showed an evil smirk. Nudging Hanbin, he suggested, “Let us _eat_ him, brother.”

Hanbin fluttered his eyelids in exasperation. He smiled apologetically to Jiwon who did not feel intimidated at all considering Junhoe’s build. What did the kid have going for him? A tail? He’s tiny, though. What's the worst he could do?

“We’re not sirens.” He stated simply like that was enough explanation.

That was not really that important at the moment. Jiwon made a mental note to search for the meaning of the word later, though. There were a lot of things he wanted to say, to ask, but the most urgent seemed to be, “can I see you again?” When Hanbin looked like he was taken aback by it, he pushed further, “to talk. I just want to chat with you.” Not even because Hanbin’s a mermaid—kid’s one of his kind too, but Jiwon would gladly not see him again.

Junhoe was squinting at him. “You have vile intentions towards my brother,” he said, slowly, as he scrutinized Jiwon’s face. Now, ‘vile’ was a bit too much. Maybe, something ‘dirty’—no, stop. With a gasp, the merkid exclaimed, “brother, he wants to feed on your tail!”

The accusation was totally unexpected—not entirely wrong if you looked at it from another perspective, but we’re _not_ doing that. Why’s he giving second meanings to everything? Jiwon felt a bit disgusted with himself.

“I just want to chat.” Jiwon retorted. He then added, “relax, I don’t eat fish!” Hadn’t for just a couple days. He had no plans to have them anymore, anyways.

He had meant to tranquilize the two, but they looked at each other first, then slowly back at him with eyebrows pushed together in confusion.

“Do you feed on bears?” Junhoe asked.

At the same time Hanbin said, “you dislike what the sea has to offer?”

Jiwon actually did not know how to reply to them. For once, huh, bears? What the hell? And he thought Hanbin would have been glad he did not eat fish given that he was half one. It looked like he’s not being appreciated.

But wait a second. Just wait. The thought of mermaids eating fish was wrong. Too fucking wrong. He had to verify this.

“You eat fish?” He questioned Hanbin.

The latter nodded. “Of course.”

“That’s cannibalism.” Jiwon spluttered before he could help himself.

Hanbin blinked at him. The innocent blink that Jiwon liked so much. “Sharks taste delicious.”

“Especially the whities.” Junhoe supplied enthusiastically and for the first time his lips were curved up in a genuine grin.

Jiwon’s mind halted. “Whities.” He parroted. That was absurd. “You don’t mean white sharks, do you?”

“Of course that’s what I meant,” Junhoe told him. He was starting to scowl again before his expression blanked as if he was listening to something. He and Hanbin groaned simultaneously.

Having a vague feeling about what was occurring, Jiwon hastily asked, “are you going away?”

“Yes,” Hanbin replied.

The other was not moving yet, but Jiwon hurried, “can I see you again?” He requested. “Tomorrow? Or when you want. Just—” What was he going to suggest? Ring me? Damn. He wet his lips. “Please.”

Hanbin looked at him, indecisive.

The answer did not come for some time. In the meanwhile Junhoe was trying to hurry his brother, trying to pull him down in the deep sea.

It happened fast and Jiwon did not even know he had an arm stretched towards Hanbin, did not even know when he had gone close to the water again, but his hand stung after it got swatted away by Junhoe’s fin.

Hanbin was surprised too. He looked wide-eyed at Jiwon retreating and then to the merkid next to him. “Junhoe!”

Junhoe was busy growling at Jiwon. “How dare you!” He spat venomously. “Filthy lander!”

“I’m sorry!” Jiwon said as the fact registered. He had done it unconsciously. While he could argue that his hand was unlikely going to even graze Hanbin, he sort of understood why of the vehemence. If he were one of them, he would have not liked being touched by a human either. “I’m really sorry.”

“You’re a filthy lander!” Junhoe kept telling him. “I will have brother Jinhwan severe your limbs!”

“Junhoe,” Hanbin breathed out. He placed a palm on the kid to soothe him. It worked on making him stop screeching, but not on trying to murder Jiwon with his gaze.

He had another apologetic smile as if he knew Jiwon had moved without thinking.

This time too he left without a word, but Jiwon started shouting at him that he’ll be back the next day. That he’ll be on this same spot. That he was very sorry for what almost happened. That he will be back the next day. He’ll be back.

—

Jiwon did not go back.

He fucking fell asleep there, so technically he did not.

He woke up sneezing with a clogged nose and a hurting throat, but that was fine. Because as soon as he opened his eyes he heard another snickering and a now becoming familiar,

“Junhoe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry you'll see Chanwoo and Jinhwan too. Maybe in 3 or 4 chapters /grins/ and yes, every mermaid has a superpower. Junhoe, as you have probably understood, can summon thunderstorms and such. Try to guess what Hanbin's superpower is /you will never guess/  
> Also, keep this one thing in mind: everything has a reason. There's a reason Junhoe behaves that way and there's another for Hanbin's behavior. There's a reason why they speak like that lol


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mistakes here and there.

It’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but even in the presence of magical creatures—one of which he was almost begging to see again—Jiwon could only stay trying to look at them with bleary eyes for a couple seconds before he was drifting off. He could blame it on not feeling well (which was more definitely expected to happen given the location where he had spent the night with soaked clothes).

When he woke up for the second time, taking a sweet while to adjust to the sun, the heat and the fact that he was fucking sweating, Hanbin was sitting two rocks from him in a position that let half of his long tail immersed in the water.

Jiwon wanted to call him. When he opened his mouth his vocal words did not cooperate, though. He only could manage a shaky breath that was not enough to gain Hanbin’s attention.

The latter was too absorbed watching the sea, it seemed. When Jiwon directed his own gaze towards the same direction of Hanbin’s, he noticed in the distance this other mythical being swirling in the glimmering water, smiling big and bright as he played with what looked like an octopus.

Well, it was definitely an octopus. What with its characteristic bad-like body and the way it moved by jet propulsion. Plus, biology knowledge aside, Jiwon had had lots of them grilled so he could not be mistaken.

It took him one more looking to remember that the other mer was none other than the kid with an abnormally deep and husk voice Junhoe.

The realization kind of took him by surprise because in the night he could not really make out the merkid’s features in detail given that Junhoe was facing him, thus the moon could not light up his face much.

Even though Junhoe had been such a pain before, looking at him gleefully trying to chase his cephalopod friend was cute.

But what intrigued Jiwon more was the tail that he occasionally caught glimpses of. It was an orange-red—he had never been good at classifying colors, so forgive him. It would have never go unnoticed by how strong and vibrant it looked. Junhoe’s tail reminded Jiwon of the gold fish he used to have as pets in his childhood.

He could not help, but took his focus on Hanbin’s tail now for a quick comparison. Hanbin’s was not as eye-catching on a first impression. It was verging towards a dirty white, maybe, and he did not know if it happened to all mermaids, but Jiwon found dazzling how Hanbin’s scales were either holographic under the sun-rays or able to refract the light and looked almost rainbow-y.

What the hell was he even saying?

He’d never thought mermaids to have different color of their tails. Junhoe’s was fierce looking and Jiwon could not help, but think that it matched with the personality he had seen of the kid so far. Just like the simplicity and elegance of Hanbin’s fitted the guy—merguy. Huh. Merman.

Jiwon took his shirt off and wiped himself with it. He was thinking about uttering Hanbin’s name once again, to make the other know that he was up, and to ask him if he could—well, sit _not_ next to Hanbin, but maybe leave just a rock in between them.

Asking for permission was mandatory and he would be okay if he got turned down. After all, he did not want to put Hanbin in an uncomfortable situation.

And thinking about it, Hanbin was here—the latter had bent to Jiwon’s request somehow and that was extremely nice of Hanbin.

Of Junhoe too. He guessed.

“Hanbin, good morning.” Jiwon finally could say as he started folding his shirt, but actually ended up just crumpling it instead.

He watched Hanbin turn his head towards him, cock it a bit back and break into a smile.

It felt like watching one of those ‘5 things that will make your day better’ videos. Or, it’s just Jiwon. But, goddamn, dude really was really capable of making the smallest of his movements look captivating and he was breathtakingly motherfuckingly—okay, delete this—beautiful that he left Jiwon floored.

Which brought him back to Hanbin being just ‘medium’ looking among his peers.

That’s fucking _insane_. Again: how much more beautiful were these brothers of his that Hanbin was—what. Average?

“Hello,” Hanbin had replied. He pointed at his brother. “Junhoe had brought Brain with him. Hopefully, that’s no bother for you.”

Jiwon was quick to shake his head. “No, he—ck,” he should not be cursing in front of someone the caliber of Hanbin, right? “You’re free to bring whoever you are. You’re doing me a favor by—” Gracing me with your presence? Showing up? Normal him would have no problem saying that, but the him of now couldn’t. He also just could not formulate a sentence without interrupting himself every other half word. His tongue felt all tangled up in his mouth.

To think that he was flirting with Hanbin back then.

Well, if you think about it, it was when he thought this was nothing, but a dream.

It could still be, a voice in his head mocked him.

But three times and it’s still not real? C’mon. Cut him some slack.

His lungs screaming for oxygen because he had stopped working as he kept gawking at Hanbin directing his stare at him felt kind of painful. (To his defense, they’re near each other, closer than they had been before, and Jiwon could notice how _soft_ Hanbin always looked. It could be because, although, he had human looking eyes, his pupils were larger. But, like, even when his brows twitch, the muscles around his eyes remained relaxed, making Hanbin look so kind regardless of the expression he’d been making. Jiwon had no doubt it would be the same even if the other got angry).

As a proof of Jiwon’s internal monologue, Hanbin furrowed his forehead at him, but still kept this gentle aura around him.

“Jiwon?”

Da— _ng_. Jiwon almost shuddered at that. And what the hell, why was he censoring himself? He’s allowed to say profanities in his mind.

“You can bring whoever you are— _want_.” Look at him making a fool of himself. Donghyuk would have hold it against him to his death if he had witnessed this moment.

Jiwon tried to mask his awkwardness with a little chuckle that just did _not_ sound forced and made it worse. He had been talking to beautiful people all his life and he had been able to show them his room, his bed in particular, to more than a half of them. Where the hell had his charming side gone?

It’s because he did not feel well. Must be that.

In part.

He started playing with the bits of sand in between the rocks, but against his better judgment he peeked at Hanbin who was curiously looking at him.

Those eyelashes were really thick, and Hanbin really did have a lean figure. The bids of water were still all over Hanbin as if there was something in Hanbin’s body that kept them intact even if the hot weather would have wanted them evaporated within seconds.

It would be so easy for Jiwon to reach out and check for himself if the reason behind it was because Hanbin’s corporeal temperature was cold or what.

This would be the perfect time to ask Hanbin if he could scoot closer.

Jiwononly dug his fingers in the sand.

“So, how many brothers do you have?” He questioned, decided that he was not going to lose this opportunity just because he felt self-conscious of his sudden stupid strange behavior. The night before, he had exclaimed that he wanted to chat with Hanbin. If he remained silent, the other could think badly of him. Think he made that up—he did not.

He could not risk Hanbin disliking him.

“Eight.”

Jiwon’s eyebrows shot to his hairline. He whipped his look back at the merman. “Eight?”

“Why?” Hanbin had an amused expression smeared on his face. “Do you have siblings of your own?”

“Just, _holy_ ,” Jiwon cut himself, “you got _many_. I just have one.” Hanbin was intently listening so he had to go on, “he’s older than me. He’s in Japan. He works as a manager of this food company. Got married a few months ago. Now he and his wife are—” Maybe he’s revealing too much? “—expecting.”

“A human child.” Hanbin supplied.

“Yes, yes,” Jiwon had confirmed, then laughed a little at the unhelpful addition. He looked at Hanbin. Would it come across as rude if he asked about how mer-creatures reproduce or—he’ll save that for another conversation. “So—”

“What do you feed on?” Hanbin asked him. “I’m—sorry.” He stayed with an open mouth because he had talked above Jiwon.

“Hey, no, it’s fine,” Jiwon assured him. He flashed Hanbin a smile to tell him that it was not a problem. The other had been incredibly polite so far, generous with his time too—he would never be able to stress this enough. Truthfully speaking, yesterday he was not really counting on seeing Hanbin soon. _So_ soon.

“You still hang on that, huh? Well, it’s not like I have never eaten fish. I used to.” Before meeting you. He kept that for him since the other would not comprehend anyways and he was not about to start wasting Hanbin’s time by explaining it. “Now I eat lots of meat and vegetables.” He scrunched up his nose. “Actually, lots of shrimps and crabs.”

Hanbin emitted a small gasp. His eyes darted to the sea before going back on Jiwon.

“Huh,” Jiwon said, looking at Junhoe too who was now further from them. His tail the only thing recognizable. “What is it?”

“Kingler is a crab.” Hanbin explained to him with a little frown, serious eyes. O—kay? But, damn, did that made him look adorable. He said in a whisper that came out too loud—Jiwon had to bite back a grin, “he’s one of Junhoe’s dearest friend.”

“Aaah,” Jiwon said in understanding. He thought about it for a minute. “Did you say Kingler?” He added, “like the Pokémon?” He flicked his thumb to the water. “That’s Brain? Did you name them? Because those are _great_ names.”

Hanbin did not seem to share the sentiment. He looked at him questioningly. “Brother Jinhwan did.” He moved his hands from the rock to his lap. “Pokémons?” He parroted.

Jiwon would have paid more attention to the melodious voice with which Hanbin had said the word if not that he captured with his eyes a detail he hadn’t noticed before: Hanbin had fine membranes in between his fingers—they looked very similar to those of ducks’, except that they were just above the base. They reached more or less the first joint and connected each finger to the other.

“Jiwon?”

At that, Jiwon immediately brought his gaze up. Was he going to mention them or was he just going to let his discovery slide?

He found himself saying, “huh, I won’t eat Kingler. Don’t worry?” So he guessed not. Why was he thinking so fucking much, anyways? He took his hand out of the sand, and kept it on his leg.

“Thank you.” Hanbin told him solemnly with his lips quirking upwards as if Jiwon had promised to shoot the sun or something.

Jiwon kept throwing sneaky glances at the merman’s hands, trying to understand on his own how those were supposed to help with swimming—because that was definitely their function. That he did not need to ask. Did having half webbed forelimb make them more powerful swimmer? No, that had to be the tail.

He really wanted to know. A part of him felt like Hanbin could get uncomfortable with questions about his marine anatomy, though.

It’s then that he realized that the conversation he had going on with the other went dead as Hanbin was contentedly just looking at his baby brother playing.

Jiwon blurted out, “so, is this your first time?”

Hanbin swiveled his head at him. He blinked. “First time?”

“Huh, talking to a human?” Jiwon had said without thinking, the words coming out of his mouth on their own.

“I reckon we did speak before.” Hanbin responded.

Jiwon licked his lips. “Ah, yeah, yeah, I mean—” He realized the merman was giving him this small smile. That made him chuckle. “Oh, dang, you making fun of me now? Not cool—that’s not cool.”

“I’m sorry.” Hanbin was not, but he probably had said it out of politeness. He flicked the water with his tail. “Indeed, you’re the first lander I had the opportunity to speak with.”

Jiwon had a joke he’d always used on the tip of his tongue. Instead, he offered a half-smile and opted for another, “hopefully I did not ruin it.”

“You did not.” Hanbin said with much conviction. He put his hands on his lap, slipped his fingers together to the weird membranes. “You have a good heart, Jiwon.”

“I—thank you?” Jiwon raised an eyebrow. He would have liked to explore more of their first topic, but that sudden compliment left him kind of speechless. “I try?” It’s not like he believed he was a bad person, but he still needed to clarify just in case Hanbin had too high of an expectation of him. “I’m okay, you know. Not the most charitable out there. It’s not like I open my house to stray puppies and cats—Yunhyeong. He’s a friend of mine. He does that. He has a really good heart.” Damn, he’s babbling. “I tried to take in a puppy, but had to call Yunhyeong because my roommate’s allergic. That was a big fail. I’m not that good, but I try. I guess, well, I’m—okay?”

Hanbin waited for him to glue his lips together. He smiled beautifully as he always did. “You have a good heart, Jiwon,” he said a second time. His next sentence was very freaky because instead of using a singular first person, he used a plural. “We know.”

Jiwon had to raise the other eyebrow. Excuse me? “We?” What the fuck. He repeated. He blinked twice. “Huh, who’s this we? Who’s included in this we?” He came up with an answer of his own about a second later—maybe Hanbin meant he and Junhoe.

He frowned. It could not be, though.

From what he had seen, Junhoe did not like him at all. Despised him even. If this was the merkid’s way of showing his trust, then that would be very questionable.

“Brother Jinhwan,” Hanbin said. Whoa. What’s the deal with this other mer? He’d been the protagonist of a lot of their stories so far. Jiwon recalled Junhoe saying that he would have this brother of theirs cut his legs or something—see? It could have not been Junhoe. “Brother Jinwoo and brother SeungYoon.”

At this point, Jiwon had to question, “what’s with your brother Jinhwan? And how do you guys _know_?” Could they see the kindness in humans’ hearts? _What?_

“They can sense it.” Hanbin replied.

“They can sense it?” He probably looked like an idiot as he said the exact same words of the other, but he only got more confused by the little information he had been given. “That’s—what? Some sort of power?” He’s vaguely reminded of the small conversation he had eavesdropped he night before. Things like abilities and such. “That’s _their_ super power? Sense the kindness in people’s hearts?” He did not voice it out because it was absolutely not part of his intention to offend Hanbin, but that was a bit crappy of a super power.

Hanbin beatifically smiled at him. “We were gifted—” He was started to explain, before he was yet again scolding Junhoe.

Jiwon had a split second in which he was just immobile, blinking stupidly, before the gears in his brain started turning and he realized that he got splashed such a generous amount of salty water that fucking falls were coming down from his hair and forming an ocean around him.

“Nyahahaha!” Junhoe taunted as he squished the octopus’ head with his arms in what seemed like a hug.

It’s a good thing he had dealt with little shits in the past. And that, despite his still sore throat and stuffy nose, knowing himself he would have gone for a swim sooner or later. He had taken off his shirt’s anyways—it’s soaked too, great. Fine, let’s be extra honest: kid’s got to thanks the fact that his brother’s really nice in both personality and look that Jiwon would repress any kind of irritation he felt towards him.

Hanbin let out an exasperated sigh. He let himself in the sea with a delicate movement. From his clouded expression you would think he was going to pull, twist Junhoe’s ear—Jiwon had experienced it with his mom even before he was Junhoe’s age. Huh. Human age?—but he folded his arms on his bare chest and did something that Jiwon could not witness with his eyes.

It must have been a tail whip or something because Junhoe went, “owie!” and looked down at his red tail first and then up to his brother, this time with a pout.

“I’ll tell brother Jinhwan.” Junhoe said rather weakly with no threat. His eyes got round, big and pleading. He had abandoned his friend tentacle or whatever it was called.

Hanbin’s reaction to it was indifference. “Brother would not be pleased with you,” he berated, his Bambi eyes trying to be scary, but failing a mile. In Jiwon’s opinion. “You know, I have great love for you, June—”

Oh, God, it was going to turn into one of those talks that had kids crying at the end. Kids like Junhoe at least, cause Junhoe looked upset. Very upset. And Jiwon might be irked he got prank-ed _again_ , but it was basically nothing he could silently forgive _again_.

Like, he appreciated the sentiment. Hanbin chastising Junhoe for what he did to Jiwon? That’s cool. Meant also that Hanbin did not let his baby brother get away with anything.

“Hey, it’s fine,” he told Hanbin hastily because he’s right. Junhoe’s getting misty eyed and the octopus’s dangerously starting to circle around Hanbin. Faster and faster: he doubted it would do anything, but it’s better to keep safe than sorry. “We’re at the beach. I was gonna dive in a minute.” He lied and then stood up to—look more credible? “It’s okay.”

Junhoe slowly turned his face to him. He had his lip jutted out, trembling and eyes like puppies (even if he’s partly fish. The comparisons Jiwon were making did not have much sense). He just looked so sad and lost that it was easy to forget he could be such a brat.

Jiwon really thought of taking a quick dip for the kid’s sake.

That’s when he heard in the distance someone call for him and recognized it being Yunhyeong. The mer-creatures perked at the voice too. Junhoe wiped his unshed tears with his arm and the both of them stared at Jiwon.

“It’s a friend,” Jiwon felt the need to say.

Without sparing it a glance, Junhoe managed to capture in a single try his marine friend. He hugged it tight.

The three of them stayed silent, listening to Yunhyeong.

While Jiwon wanted to let the latter know where he was it did not go unnoticed to him how cautious the mers were now, their guards up. Half of Hanbin’s fin came up on the surface and hooked around Junhoe’s shoulder protectively.

It should not have awed Jiwon that much given that he kind of knew that part of their bodies was a proper limb. Just like an arm—no, what the heck. Leg. Legs for him. A person. Human.

“Human,” Junhoe whisper-shouted, leaning in closer to the merman.

Jiwon was puzzled by that. He wanted to ask why they were so scared of Yunhyeong—Yunhyeong, the person who kept strays. He could not fathom why Junhoe was acting frightened this very moment when he had no problems with him. If they thought he had a good heart, then Yunhyeong’s, like, golden. He told Hanbin about him. “It’s just Yunhyeong.”

It was useless.

The shouting got more insistent and that’s when the two aquatic brothers vanished in the sea in a blink. There were bubbles.

—

That night Jiwon got a fever.

Donghyuk mocked him endlessly, but went out to bring him a carrot soup and fries. “What. They’re soft, he can eat them,” he said to a frowning Yunhyeong.

He told them about meeting with Hanbin and his brother Junhoe and whether they thought he was just delirious because of his high body temperature (he’s also shivering and got two sheets even though they turned off the air con in his room) or they believed—that he could not decipher. But he kept the last moments with the mythical siblings a secret. For some reason.

Yunhyeong’s offering to spoon feed him when Jiwon felt compelled to ask him,

“you’re a good person, right?”

Yunhyeong looked at him strangely. “Huh?”

Donghyuk snorted down a laugh. “You need some zz-s after that soup, bro.” He snatched the French fries for himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late update, but hey, there are 36 degrees outside. We're spending the majority of time at home and only going out during the night. Anyways, my excuses aside, in the next chapter he will have more of Hanbin and Junhoe, of course, and Jiwon trying to, like, try to reason wtih Junhoe. Sort of. There's going to be more of Yunhyeong.  
> I hope you liked this chapter! Let me know in the comment section below (Iol)!

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a multi-chaptered fanfic with really short updates—at least for my standards. From 1k to 6k tops, okay? I can only update when we're at a Starbucks, so I'm really sorry if you won't get no more than 2 updates or 1 per week.  
> Comments, as per usual, are highly appreciated. I really like reading your thoughts on my writing. They are what make me write faster, no jokes. Thanks in advance!


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